Yusef and the Wild Tribe
by Braindead123
Summary: An otherwise do-nothing amateur duelist's life is changed when he enters Duel Academy and meets the spirits of the Wild Tribe, ancient duel spirits. See how it affects his life and whether the spirits are truly as honest and good as they seem. Rated M for possible violence and definite gay yaoi m/m human/furry lemons (The WT are essentially furries) down the road. NOW WITH SMUT!
1. Chapter 1

**Even though I don't post much, I'm always writing. I figure I'll start posting my finished products now even if I'm not sure about them in order to post more often.**

The friends of mine who liked Duel Monsters all thought I was crazy when I told them the story of my deck. Maybe you will, too, but if you do, that's too bad for you because I have proof.

I'm Yusef Musk, a normal seventeen-year-old who loves to duel and little else. Certainly not school, that's for sure - so I thought, at least. But it turned out there was a secondary school specifically for duelists who wanted to go pro: Duel Academy. And when I heard about it, I thought it would have been stupid for me to try anything anywhere else. That's the story of how I ended up in the bleachers of Duel Academy waiting for an examiner to call for my name.

While I waited, though, just watching the duels was fun for me. Which of these people could I crush in one turn? How many would crush me? I took mental notes of everybody in the place as well as their big moves and how I might counter them if I was even capable of doing so. One thing I was kind of relieved about is that it was apparently possible to lose your exam duel and still get admitted if you put up a hell of a fight. On the other hand, I also remember one disgruntled guy who won easily but didn't get admitted. He even began to disrupt other duels with his angry shouting. "What the hell, proctor?"

"Young man, all results are fi-"

"I just wiped the floor with you! Where's my vest?" The disgruntled applicant was referring to one of three dorm vests colored crimson, gold, and azure after the three Egyptian God cards Slifer, the Winged Dragon of Ra, and Obelisk - naturally not cards in common circulation. The rumor was that they were under the most secure possible lock and key in the custody of Industrial Illusions. But the vests also represent one's hierarchical rank with red at the bottom and blue at the top. I figured I'd be satisfied with any, especially since blue is just for the elite with special connections, but I was at least aiming high enough to want yellow.

"What a spoiled whiner," someone whispered into my ear before I could get a look at them. I wasn't startled, though; I just casually glanced to my left to find the speaker. It was a girl about the same age as me with a smirk on her face. "These prep school snobs think they've got it in the bag, but daddy's money isn't gonna win duels." She turned to me then. "You duel yet?"

"Didn't call me yet. Think I saw you down there, though. Lightsworn, right?"

"That was me," the brunette proudly claimed.

"You must be in if you stuck around. So, what makes you think I'm not a prep school snob? You might have just insulted me to my face."

"Rich kids are already sure they're in. You haven't boasted yet." She inclined her head then. "And they can afford custom duel disks, too, but I see you're wearing a pretty standard model."

"Oh, please," I scoffed, "A disk is a disk. They all do the same thing, more or less. Which dorm did you get in?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" That wasn't mean or taunting. It was more like she was playing coy. "Come back with your admission paperwork, and I'll tell you. That'll show me you're a real duelist worth my time."

" _Yusef Musk, report to test field A,"_ right then was barely audible over the PA because everyone in the court was talking so loudly. Luckily it repeated, " _Yusef Musk, field A."_

I shrugged with false modesty and began to back away. "I can wait. See you in five minutes!"

"Confident, aren't you?"

"Nah. If I was confident I would have said two."

I took the tunnel behind me away from the stands, descended the stairs, and emerged from another tunnel onto the field. I was immediately met with a proctor who indifferently queried, "Name?"

"Musk, Yusef. Field A?"

"Yessir. Deck?" I wasn't sure why I was giving up my deck to this guy, but I obeyed. I think he understood my confusion, because as he browsed my cards he clarified, "Just making sure it complies with official rules, being between fourty and sixty cards, no banned cards, and no excess copies of any cards."

"What?" That bit concerned me. I was just an amateur who didn't even know there were so many special regulations. I'd have hated it if I had to remove too many cards from my deck and be disqualified. My heart sank when he pulled one card from my deck.

"You're only allowed to have one Dark Hole in your deck. You'll have to take the other one out, OK?" I nodded my assent and took the card from the proctor, slipping it into my pocket. "Otherwise your deck qualifies. Good luck son!"

I wiped some sweat from my brow and loaded my deck into the disk. "Time to rock, then!" I advanced past a couple of duels in progress until I found a large letter A taped onto the ground with another proctor standing by it, only this one wielded a duel disk. I shouted, "Hope you brought your best deck, because these standard test decks will never keep me down!" That's when the strangest thing happened.

My surroundings disappeared all at once. The court, the stands, the people, everything. Everything except me, at least. And they were replaced by an empty deciduous forest. I was so confused; was it a field spell? I doubted it. Those were just holograms, but the leaf I tested between a couple of fingers sure felt real. I was distracted from that by a scraping sound then. "Huh?"

It came from past the bush, so I crushed the top of it down so I could see over it. I was met by one of the strangest sights I had ever seen: a bear, sitting on a boulder embedded in the ground like a human, with a spear in its lap. Not only that, but it was using a smaller rock in its hand - paw? - as a tool to sharpen the blade of the spear. Apparently that was the source of the scraping sound. What on earth could I have been seeing?

I inhaled sharply when the bear made eye contact with me, but it didn't get a chance to decide whether it liked me before my surroundings reverted back to the duel court. "Mr. Musk!" someone was shouting at me while snapping fingers in front of my face. I slapped the snapping hand away as a first instinct.

"Sorry, sorry!" I was breathing hard, a bit frightened by what had just happened. But I lied, "...I get test anxiety." Both for the proctor's sake and for my own, hoping it would help me shake that hallucination off and get back on track. "Who's first, then?"

"You lead off. I can't see what you've got if I don't offer you a fighting chance to set up a defense."

"Give me an inch, and I'll take a mile!" I declared as I drew five cards from my deck. "Duel!" I was disappointed by my hand until I drew my sixth card. "I'll lay a monster facedown. And I'll leave a couple of landmines on the field just to keep you guessing, too." The back of a card displayed sideways along with two more behind it that were facedown spelltraps. I folded my hand together into one stack then. "Take your turn!"

The examiner drew from his deck. "Your poker face gets an F. You're relying more on one of those traps than the other, and I know exactly which. So I'll start with Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the facedown on your right."

"What?" I cried out. That card reared back to reveal that it was Trap Hole, a card that WOULD have destroyed a normal summoned monster with 1,000 or more attack if it wasn't just destroyed. It shattered like glass in front of me. "Wow, that's a high-quality projector!" I admired.

"And now here's a high-quality monster: Lancer Lindwurm in attack mode!" I let some concern show on my face; that dragon had 1,800 attack points and, even worse, inflicted piercing damage on defense position monsters. Mine would never protect me if he destroyed it. "Now, Lancer Lindwurm will strike your defense monster, and something tells me your last facedown can't stop it. Attack!" The proctor was right. As the image of the armored dragon stabbed my facedown monster, my last remaining spelltrap couldn't have helped me. So the monster flipped over to reveal- "No!"

"Snowman Eater!" I declared proudly. Snowman Eater is a monster with no attack points but 1,900 defense points - enough to withstand the attack. It also has an awesome ability, too: "And when Snowman Eater is flipped faceup, one faceup monster goes right to the graveyard. I'll rid the field of your Lancer Lindwurm, but you'll still take 100 points of lifepoint damage."

I heard the proctor's counter count down after his dragon disappeared, but he didn't lose his composure. "Strong opening move, applicant. But, pop quiz: your opponent has a facedown on the field and no monsters." One appeared at that moment. "Will you A) go on the offensive despite that, or B) play it safe and be defensive? Your move."

My field position was just too good. "Know what? I think you're bluffing. Your facedown can't save you."

"Then try your luck, applicant."

"I will!" I drew. And I was very pleased. "I sacrifice my Snowman Eater to summon Blowback Dragon!" Contrary to his name, Blowback Dragon is a level 6 machine type monster with 2,300 attack points. "And with his ability, you might not even get to activate that card: I toss a coin three times, and if it comes down heads at least twice, any one card on your side of the field is destroyed. I'll target your facedown. For the mathematically challenged, that's the chance of getting either two or three heads is 50%. Let's do this, Blowback!" Lucky for me I had a quarter in my pocket. I flicked it upwards with my thumb, caught it deftly in the hand that flicked it, and slapped it against the top of my other hand before revealing it for us both to see. "Tails. One more, and your card survives." So I flipped it again.

Then I was back in the forest. In fact, I was in the exact same spot I had been standing in before just before the spear bear who was eyeing me suspiciously. "What is this?" I asked dumbly. And to my surprise the bear answered me. Not verbally, of course, but he nodded his head as if he was motioning for me to pass. I guessed I'd never figure things out if I didn't do as the hallucination said, so I awkwardly crawled through the bush and passed him. It was very intimidating because even sitting on a rock the bear was higher than I, and he didn't stop staring at me as I passed. Still, once he was behind me, I hardly noticed him.

As I walked on I passed more humanoid animals. Their bodies were vaguely shaped like humans' but retained the head, fur or scales, and tails. They lived in some kind of village, apparently, with tent-sized huts formed with straw and tied together with vines. They wore very little clothing each, all kind of like slightly more modest versions of early native Americans before the Europeans arrived. And while I looked around, most didn't even acknowledge me. They went about whatever task they were up to, be it watching younglings, sharpening weapons, weaving, or just walking by. There was some kind of grand hut in the middle that was closer to the size of a two-story house, and I don't know why I was drawn to walk in that direction, but I was. There were lions, leopards, wolves, gorillas, alligators - if it was an animal, it was there.

I didn't bother asking anyone any questions about how I got there or what it was, though. I was just waiting for the whole scene to end like it did last time, but that wasn't until I was at the grand structure's unobstructed doorway.

As I flashed back to reality, I found the coin on the ground. Apparently I didn't catch it. Even worse, it was showing tails, but I was more concerned about not appearing to have spaced out again. "Well, proctor, your card survives. So, _just_ to be safe, I'll discard one card from my hand to special summon The Tricky!" The Tricky is a level five monster with 2,000 attack points, but I can special summon it as long as I discard one card from my hand to the grave. "That card better stop me, because I'm totaling 4,300 attack points over here - more than enough to wipe you out all at once. So I'll lead with The Tricky. Attack!"

I actually half-expected that not to work, but it seemed I was right. The proctor took 2,000 points of direct battle damage and did nothing to prevent it. "Ha! You can't stop me! Blowback Dragon, end the duel!"

Before that attack landed, the proctor interrupted, "You have impressive moves. Allow me to show you just how smart your decisions were. Activating trap: Memory of an Adversary!" The facedown on his side of the field rose. "This card lets me remove from play an attacking monster until the end of your next turn. At that point, your monster is special summoned to _my_ side of the field. But it comes with a price."

"You take damage equal to the monster's attack points when you activate it!" I exclaimed excitedly. "If I only attacked with my Dragon, you would have taken the hit but banished my monster. But because I also attacked with The Tricky, that move was pointless. Your life points are at zero!"

"Indeed." The proctor bowed gracefully as his counter hit zero, at which point the holograms disappeared. "Victory in only two turns is quite impressive. Pick up your admission ticket just to the right out of the tunnel behind me. Welcome to Duel Academy, applicant."

"Woo!" I cheered and punched the air before power walking past and into that exit tunnel.

Before I could make the turn, though, I was intercepted by another adult. "Excuse me, young man, how are you? _Splendid_ duel, splendid." I was shaking his hand before I even knew it was out.

"Should I be yelling for help?" Obviously this dark skinned man dressed in nice a suit had an agenda, and I wished he'd get to it. "If you saw me duel, then you know I don't like to beat around the bush."

"Quite right! And just like you, I'm setting up myself up for victory before making a big move." I'm sure my facial expression convinced him to get on with it, though. "I'm Vice Chancellor Hart, and if you don't mind I'd like a quick word with you. Nothing bad," he added on as an afterthought, "I'm just curious about something. May we?" He then gestured to let me pass even though I was clearly meant to follow him.

"Uh, sure, you got it." If I was really talking to the Vice Chancellor, it would probably have served me well to be on his good side.

"May I see your deck?" I obeyed and let him look through. "Psychics... machines... beasts... fire... dark... your monsters seem to have absolutely nothing in common," he critiqued, "Not their relative strengths, not their effects, not their level, not their attribute or type. Your deck is a complete mishmash of cards!"

I didn't wait to be offered my cards back. I took it back. "Thank you sir."

"I meant no disrespect, Mr. Musk! I just think your deck may be even stronger with a little more order. I think I have just the suggestion, too." We were far from the stadium by then. We were in a hall corridor, and Hart just then took my shoulder and made me turn into an automatic sliding door which opened for us into what had to be the VC's office. "Have you heard of the rare Wild Tribe cards?"

"No, sir." I tried to be as respectful as I could when adding, "But I'm not sure how I feel about getting this kind of special treatment. Especially when I know for fact I wasn't the best duelist on the floor today." I stopped in front of the desk as Vice Chancellor Hart walked around it.

"Modesty is a virtue, Mr. Musk, and I hope you never lose it. Here we are!" The VC then pulled a small wooden case out of his drawer and placed it on the desk.

Apparently I had attracted a small crowd of the villagers who had followed me along my path. Some held weapons by their side like spears and swords and clubs, but none of them were acting hostile. It was like they were waiting me to do something specific and wanting me to get on with it. While I was turned around to stare at them my hand was taken from behind, the direction toward the grand structure. Even though the grip wasn't threateningly firm, I still pulled on instinctively anyway. Only then did it tighten, and I knew by the tickle of hair on my skin that it had to be another one of those beasts.

I whipped my head around and was simultaneously pulled straight into the muscular, furry body of a polar bear. He was seven or so feet tall, so the top of my head was about level with the base of his pectorals. But why had he pulled me into him? Well, after that his paws snaked around my back and kept pulling. It felt like I was almost having difficulty breathing, but considering the strength of bears that was probably as tender and gentle as he could be. Yes, the polar bear was hugging me. "What is this?" I finally asked aloud, "What's going on?"

My only answer was a huff from him. He didn't seem like he was going to let go soon, so, though I wasn't sure about it... I hugged the nearly-nude bear back. "What is this? Where am I? What's going on?"

Next thing I knew, I was back in the Vice Chancellor's office. I was still trying to cover for my hallucinations, so I shook my head and asked, "Sorry, I completely spaced out. Can you repeat that?" even though I wasn't even entirely sure he had said anything at all.

Maybe he hadn't, even. He was wearing a smirk like he either knew something I didn't known or that I didn't want him to know. "It seems the conversation you were having is important, too, but please try to stay cognizant enough for me to explain things." Hart took the top off the box then and withdrew a card. Tell me everything you see about this card.

I raised an eyebrow. I had definitely seen that before; it was a white wolf holding a bow with a quiver on its back. "Uh... what do you want to know that you can't read for yourself? It's Wild Tribe White Wolf Hunter. 1,700 attack points, 1,300 defense points. Level 4 - Water attribute? Weird. Effect... gains 400 attack points during battle with a defense position monster and inflict piercing battle damage. During the end phase - the card's controller takes damage equal to all piercing battle damage the opponent took. From this effect." I looked up from the card. "I don't get it. Is it supposed to have a hidden message?"

"Actually, it does have a hidden message." Vice Chancellor Hart looked at the card himself then. "When I look at this card, I see nothing but white. The card appears blank to me."

"You're joking. That's absurd."

"It's the truth." He took the rest of the cards out, then, and spread them in a fan shape in his hand. "I can't read any of these cards. But I bet you see them perfectly, don't you?"

"Well... yeah," I admitted, still thinking this was some crap. "Do you need glasses? The ink is pretty clearly on the card."

Hart shook his head. "These cards have not chosen me, so I could never read them. Who knows what might happen if I ever tried to play them?" He folded them back into one stack then. "The spirits of these cards have taken a liking to you. These are not your run-of-the-mill factory printed cards, Mr. Musk. Monster spirits are contained within these cards, and now they call out to you. There are previous examples of such phenomena, a more famous one being Jesse Andersen and the Crystal Beasts. Or Jaden Yuki's Neo Spacians.

"They're just putting on a persona, though," I argued, "That's what the pros do."

"Oh, no, my boy. Both boys were once students at this very school. I got to meet them myself many times when I was just a custodian here. I can't count the number of times the two were so absorbed in talking to beings I couldn't see that they bumped into doors or other people. They even saw and heard each other's spirits. Believe me, Mr. Musk, that duel spirits are very real. Surely you can see them at this very moment, no?"

I looked around the room. "Uh... no." I felt a hand on my shoulder then, and even though I didn't know who it came from I brushed it off without a thought to it before looking behind me to find its source - and nearly jumping out of my pants. Standing right there in the room was one of those anthropomorphic alligators wearing a necklace of bones around his neck! I involuntarily yelped, too. "Where'd you just come from?"

It was the VC who answered, "You're speaking to a spirit, I assume? Unfortunately, I don't have the power to see them. Clearly, though, you can. But even I could sense these cards calling out to you while you dueled." There was a wide curtain behind Hart's desk, and he then opened them to reveal that he could see the arena from there. "No one knows why some spirits are so choosy about their duelists or why they choose the duelists they do. As I understand it, even the spirits themselves don't know. Isn't that right?"

How was I supposed to know if it was right? Then I realized Hart wasn't even talking to me. I looked to the gator, who nodded. "He says yes... Somehow."

"Well, in any case, you're a special boy!" He took the box up and handed it to me. "These are your cards now, to do with as you will. You can duel with them, store them away, or rip them up. But I have a feeling you won't do that. In any case-" my hand was taken from me and shaken again without my consent. "I won't keep you any longer. I welcome you to Duel Academy! Have a nice day."

Well... that was certainly the most confusing and, dare I say it, trippy experiences of my life. I knew of only one possible way to get my mind off of that (and the armed alligator following me around): following up with my 'date.'

"Alright, a deal's a deal," I reminded the mystery girl, "I got my admission ticket. What's your name?"

"A two-turn victory? Maybe you are worth my time." Then she inclined her head a bit in acknowledgement. "I'm Molly. Molly Pratt. And I know you're Yusef Musk."

"How-?"

"They announced your name over the PA, remember?"

"...I knew that." The alligator snickered. "Hey, you shut up."

" _Excuse_ me?" Molly retorted, thankfully more confused than indignant.

I had to think fast. Lucky for me, I was facing down the stands when I said that. Sure, there was an alligator with a spear standing there, but Molly didn't know that. "...thought I heard a slur from one of those kids. I might've been wrong." I turned back to her then. "Anyway, see you around campus? Oh, maybe even the dorms. Which are you in?"

For some reason she just couldn't be straightforward with me. Again. "Hmmm... You'll find out when the term starts," she decided. "How about you?"

So that was how it would be, huh? Well, two could play that game. "Know what? We all got our secrets. I guess you'll find out when you see my uniform color around campus. Eh?"

She smirked. "You're starting to get it." She then held a closed fist out to me. "Naturally, a good duelist doesn't reveal her hand when she doesn't have to."

"Then it's a good thing we _aren't_ dueling," I insisted to try and get her to open up.

"We're always dueling," she retorted. I didn't take the offered fist bump, so she gave up and walked past. "See you around school, I suppose," she sang on her way.

"Weirdo," I mumbled to myself before glancing at the gator. "Though maybe I'm not one to question anyone else's mental state, am I? Hmm, come to think of it, even I don't know what dorm I got into." I searched my little ticket for it, and luckily it was pretty easy to find. "'This ticket signifies that Duel Academy applicant Yusef Musk has passed his test this day July 19, 2016 and hereby earned the rank of...' No way. This has to be a mistake."


	2. Chapter 2

**I've posted and reposted this one a couple of times due to math and detail errors during the duel. Let me know if you find any more, OK? But I think I got them all now.**

"Umm... blazer, please. And room key."

"Oh? Haven't heard that one all day." The line at the housing office was insane, but I supposed that was something I'd have to get used to. It was probably a yearly occurrence. Hey, at least I eventually made it to the front, though I could have done without the British lady's sass.

"Yeah, yeah... hey, are you sure I was assigned to the correct dorm? I think someone made a mistake."

"All dorm assignments are final, young man. If you don't like your dorm assignment, then prove to your professors that you deserve to be reassigned through your classwork and duel skill."

"No, no, it's not that at all!" I defended, "No slight against your dorm! I just-"

"Young man, I'm sorry, but you're holding up the line. Please step out." Well, I wanted no trouble, so I submitted reluctantly. "Well, that sure is some bull crap, ain't it, Runner?" By Runner I meant Wild Tribe Bull Runner, a bull monster with a satchel eternally draped over his shoulder. I assumed his job around the Wild Tribe was as a messenger or delivery person... basically a mailman. Who was a bull. "No offense to bulls." By this point I had mastered the art of making snide side comments to the spirits without getting caught. I had a month of practice, after all. But our relationship hadn't evolved beyond me making snide comments to them and then going back to ignoring them. "Well... I guess dorm assignments are final. Better embrace it." I reluctantly put on the blazer, but I let the Rob Zombie T-shirt beneath it show. Metalheads have to shout out at each other, after all. Hopefully no faculty would try to give me crap about it.

One thing I was thankful was the signs around the campus were extremely clear. Finding my way was easy. One thing I wasn't thankful for was that the campus was so damn big, it took me twenty minutes to walk from the housing office to my dorm. "I wonder if Vice Chancellor Hart had something to do with this. I know my demonstration didn't earn me this place," I mumbled as I arrived in the commons outside the dorm. "Hopefully I'm not the only one in Obelisk Blue who isn't a prep school snob. Maybe I'll be really lucky and not get a roommate!" The Obelisk dorm was essentially a five-star hotel tower, only it only went five floors up. I guessed it didn't have many students since it was so exclusive. At least I was on the second, which meant going up and down so many stairs wouldn't be a hassle.

Actually, it turned out stairs weren't an issue at all; the ornately decorated indoor commons came stock with elevators! Yeesh, rich kids were so spoiled! But hey, that worked for me; now I was gonna be spoiled, too! I even got the elevator to myself, which worked for me just fine. I had two big suitcases of clothes and personals, and while they fit the huge elevator fine with enough room for ten more with the same load, I still wasn't too interested in being social right then anyway. That could wait until my crap was all unloaded, and until then I wanted to be left alone and not distracted.

I swiped the key card to my door, which unlocked it, and opened it up - about two inches. After that it refused to budge, and the reason why was obvious; a chain latch wouldn't let it go any further. "Hey!" I shouted inside indignantly. My bovine companion looked as pissed as I was and even tried to kick the door down. Of course, he was a spirit, so his foot went straight through the door as if he was made of nothing (which he kind of was). "Runner, I don't think that's gonna help. But hey, thought that counts and all that." I banged on the door some more. "Yo, anyone inside? I'm locked out!"

"Sorry, sorry!" I was relieved to find the voice sounded urgent, meaning it was both remorseful and soon to let me in. The door shut with no help from me, at which point I heard the room's other occupant unlatch the chain and open the door back up, this time all the way. "Hey, sorry, man! I was expecting some bad company to show up before you." He was flattening himself against the door to let me pass by him.

"What kind of bad company? You got a hitman after you or something?" I quipped.

"Worse. Stick around - maybe you'll find out!" I passed by the guy. "I don't care which bed you take. They're both the same, anyway. But do me a favor and put your clothes in the closet closest to the one you pick for convenience's sake."

"Works for me." I take the one closest to the bathroom for tactical reasons. And damn, it was nice! I was looking at a Queen-sized bed with curtains on all sides on posts and the world's softest blue blankets laid out perfectly before more pillows than any one human could possibly need or even want. I whispered to myself, "Damn. It's the royal treatment." My roommate's was the same size and on the other side of the room with plenty of walking room between the two. The closets, which I assumed were the same, were walk-in closets. Additionally, there was a sliding glass door that led out to a balcony. "One day I've gotta stop by the Slifer dorm and see the difference."

"So, hey, I'm Henry. You?"

"Yusef. Hey, do you mind if I hang a couple-"

"Henry!" I don't know why some strange girl felt the need to slam her fist against the door and make it swing open. It wasn't locked or even closed. It didn't take a genius to put together she was pissed, though, or that it was at Henry. I assumed this was the 'bad company' he had mentioned earlier. From this inference I concluded that the two were more than likely a couple, and not one of those lovey-dovey ones. From the way they descended straight into a shouting match, I decided that was proof enough of my hypothesis. I still had business to settle, though.

"Hate to interrupt, but can I post this-" I don't know why I bothered trying to get a word in edgewise. They completely forgot I was there. "Hey, Henry! Tell me now if you don't want me to hang a Dying Fetus poster on the wall!" First off, don't freak out; it's a band, not a picture of an actual fetus. You know how metal bands are these days: they all have to have the most obscene, grotesque names they can possibly think of. Anyway, my existence still wasn't acknowledged. "...thanks, man! You're the best!" And so, the poster made it on the wall. Not that Henry had real choice in the matter anyway.

I looked over my shoulder as I was taping it to find Runner with his hands over his ears. "I'm with you pal." The longer the couple went, the more contorted Runner's grimace became until he eventually gaze up and disappeared. "Oh, so that's how it is, huh? It's so hard to find loyal hallucinations these days." When I felt at home in my half of the room, I caught sight of a note on my bed with a fancy letterhead. Glancing at Henry's, he had one, too. I guessed they were some general announcement, so I took mine outside to read it.

ALL STUDENTS: Please be advised that at exactly 2:15PM the term commencement ceremony will begin. Punctuality and attendance are mandatory for all first-year students and any other students who may wish to duel in the commencement. Cool! Well, I had no other social plans, so why not check out a few duels? I'd probably go if it wasn't mandatory. Thing was, it was already 1:45. I didn't want to risk being late because of getting lost, so I figured I'd leave right then. The arguing was starting to bug me as much as Runner anyway.

* * *

Blah, blah, blah, welcome new students. Blah, blah, blah, welcome back old. Cheer from the Slifers (boos from the Obelisks), cheer from the Ra's, cheer from the Obelisks (and boos from the Slifers). A note from the chancellor apologizing for his absence. Then a couple of themed duels. A medieval due (the duelists wore bad knight costumes and had even worse knight dialogue), a teacher-on-student duel (the teacher won), a tag duel (in an upset, the red students beat the blue ones), and finally some grand championship duel. I assumed it was for the title of top duelist in the school, and Jason Crowley's Skull Servants totally wiped the floor with Mina Trescu's Morphtrons. I was impressed; I hoped I'd never face either of them in a fight.

After that was the freshman duel, and frankly I had no idea why they'd put that after the champ duel. Maybe it was some afterthought nobody cared about like the closing credits, because there were already students leaving when it came around. Still, I stuck around. What else was I gonna do? "Now let's initiate the fresh meat by throwing a couple of them straight into the fire! Beside me," the student MC announced from the court, "is a hat with the name of every first-year student inside it. I will pick two names out of this hat, and the victims can either step up or step down. It's time to duel or die for..." the MC used both hands to pull two names out.

Boy, I hoped it wasn't me. See, I brought both decks with me, but something told me the Vice Chancellor wouldn't be happy if I used my old deck. Unfortunately, I hadn't really gotten a chance to test out the new guys. And by'hadn't gotten a chance,' I mean I had been avoiding it at all costs. I didn't feel like it was quite perfect yet; something still bothered me, and I never would have admitted it was just my reluctance to accept that these live spirit cards belonged to me. Destiny, however, forced my hand. That bitch. Speaking of bitches - "Yusef Musk, and..." - Destiny apparently brought a friend. "...Molly Pratt! Come on down, you two. Time to be initiated!"

I stared Molly down as we simultaneously emerged from opposite tunnels. "So that's how it is, huh?" I goaded, "Who are you to make fun of prep school snobs? Because I know there is no way you earned the rank of Obelisk Blue on your exam skill alone." Hey, it was a duel. What kind of duel didn't have trash talk?

"Yeah? Well I've seen your deck, Musk. And believe me, I'm prepared for your Blowback Dragon. Come at me!" We simultaneously activated our duel disks then, but on that note I figured there was no way I could use my old deck today. Well, at least it would be a good experiment to unleash the beasts and see how it went, and catching Molly of guard may even grant me an extra advantage, too. So I loaded my new deck.

"Well, guys... if this goes well, maybe we can think about being friends. Deal?" I whispered to the cards as discreetly as I could. "Game on!"

"Normally," the MC announced, "The student from the lower ranked dorm goes first. But in the event of a tie, the first turn goes to the duelist with a last name that comes earliest in alphabetical order. First move goes to Musk!"

"Thank you very much!" I deftly drew six cards at once from my deck. I wished I had time to memorize my cards to form a more long-term strategy, but I supposed it was too late now. "What have I got...? Alright! I'll summon Wild Tribe Grey Wolf Trapper in attack mode!" Trapper is a wolf with a rope over one shoulder, a net over the other, and a hunting knife on a belt around his waist. He's a level three beast type effect monster with 700 attack points and 1,500 defense points. "And you better not let him him do battle damage to you, Molly. If he does, I can summon his pack mates. Now before I pass the turn to you, I'll leave a landmine on the field." A face-down spelltrap appeared behind the Trapper. "You're on, Pratt."

"Draw!" She declared. "Can't say I've ever seen that card before, but playing an attack monster was a blunder. I summon Jain, Lightsworn Paladin!" Well, I was hoping Molly would summon a monster with more than 700 attack points but less than 1,500. She came out swinging, though, choosing a monster with 1,800 attack points. Even worse, it was a monster that gained 300 more points during a damage step when it attacks. This was going to hurt. "Jain, poach that wolf!" I scowled, but there was nothing I could do. Janis stabbed my wolf, who growled in pain and shattered like glass. My disk sucked the card up into the graveyard like a vacuum, and my lifepoint counter dropped to 2,600. "That's it for me. I'll lay a card face-down and end my turn. But during my end phase, due to Jain's effect, I have to send the top two cards of my deck to the graveyard." I got to see the cards before they went to her grave: another copy of Jain and Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter.

"Fine then! My move!" Now I was frustrated. My first move was a clear blunder, plain and simple. Had the monster been weaker, my face-down could have caught her off balance. Oh, well. Now I'd have to get defensive. "I'll set a monster on the field in defense mode, and that'll be that."

"Hmph." Molly drew. "I sacrifice Jain to summon Gragonith, Lightsworn Dragon!" That definitely wasn't good. I remembered seeing her use that as her finisher against her examiner, but I didn't remember what it does. At least I could see its card stats: Level six, Light attribute dragon type with 2,000 attack points, same as my defending monster's defense points. That was a relief-

"Hey! What's going on?" After being summoned, the dragon's attack points rose to 2,600. "Why did his points just go up?"

"Gragonith gains 300 attack and defense points for every Lightsworn monster in the grave with a different name. There are two right now: Ryko and Jain." Well, I wasn't happy about that, but thanks to my monster's ability I wasn't concerned, even if I wasn't thrilled either. "Gragonith attack that defense monster!"

I thought Molly was going to be disappointed. The monster flipped over to reveal Wild Tribe Grizzly Guard, a grizzly bear armed with a spear and a wooden buckler shield. "You're wasting your time, Molly!" I boasted, "Your dragon may have more points, but nobody can defeat Grizzly Guard in a one-on-one fight. Twice per turn, if he's in defense mode, he can't be destroyed by battle! And since you only have one monster on the field, you won't be getting past my guard today." The hologram showed me an animation of the bear warrior using his buckler and the dull end of his spear to push the dragon back to its side of the field, holding it off. But I could have sworn I also saw him turn back and nod at me.

"Maybe so, but Gragonith is one tough dragon: when he attacks a monster in defense mode, the difference in points is dealt to you as battle damage!"

"What?" I cried. It turned out to be true I noticed a scoreboard on the wall, and it tracked my duel disk's counter down to 2,000 life points while Molly's had yet to be touched. The bear suddenly cringed as if he felt the pain of the piercing blow (and it was a little hard to watch).

"That's just too bad, Yusef. But before the turn goes to you, Gragonith demands payment: the top three cards from my deck to the grave." Oh, man, I knew that this supposed cost could turn out to be her advantage if new Lightsworn monsters were added to the grave. It was pure luck that none were. They were the traps Lightsworn Barrier and Lightsworn Spiral along with a monster called Judgement Dragon.

I wasn't even sure if I had a monster in my deck who could beat 2,600 points, let alone if it got any higher. My next draw would allow me either to turn this duel around or take another pounding next turn. "Yes!" Perhaps it was a bad idea to lose my cool, but what did it matter when I was going to play the card I just celebrated anyway? "I'll begin by summoning Wild Tribe Black Wolf Stalker in attack mode!" I'd have to rely on some straight muscle this turn, so it was a good thing Stalker, wielding dual hunting knives, had 1,900 attack points. Not quite enough, but it was a nice start. Even better, with a wolf on my field, my pack building strategy was back in effect. "Next, I activate the spell card Pack Mentality! With this equip spell, I can target one Wild Tribe monster in the graveyard and add its attack points to a monster on the field as long as the field monster is a Wild Tribe Wolf. Black Wolf fits the bill, so Grey Wolf's 700 points make a grand total of 2,600 attack points for Stalker. He's even with your dragon now." I was getting excited now. "Impressed yet? Because that's not all. If the monster in the graveyard for this effect is also a Wolf, that monster is immediately special summoned to the field. The special summoned Wolf can neither attack nor be attacked, but as long as his pack mate is equipped with Pack Mentality, the two fight as one. Their attack points are pooled together in the equipped Wolf, but if you destroy one in battle then you destroy them both. Also, if the special summoned monster is removed from the field, the equipped monster loses the attack bonus. Did you get all that?" I punched the air with my free arm. "Basically, the pack fights together, wins together, and loses together."

"Not good enough!" Molly declared, "Even two-on-one you just barely break even. It'll be a double-knockout."

"Not quite, Molly. Activating trap: Fight Or Flight!" The graphic of the card was a standoff between a white and black wolf, but it's the effect that matters: "I can choose to either switch a Wild Tribe monster to defense mode or give it 500 attack points. Additionally, either choice I make reverts to normal during the End Phase. But I choose to grant those points to Black Wolf Stalker!" The great board on the wall was also tracking monsters and stats in addition to life points, and it acknowledged that my Stalker's points rose to 3,100. Molly scowled. "But before my battle phase begins, I'll switch Grizzly Guard to attack mode for extra damage. And let me tell you, those extra 1,100 attack points will hurt. Now let's rock!" The giant board with our faces on it indicated that the battle phase had begun. "Black Wolf Stalker destroy Gragonith!" Both wolves nodded in affirmative and blitzed the dragon together, forcing him to fall over and disappear. Even better, I finally managed to hit Molly for 500 points of damage. "Ouch. Hope that didn't hurt too much, because my Grizzly is running you through next. Attack!"

Grizzly Guard's spear as he charged was straight and true - until it bent as if it hit an invisible wall. "I have my own trap!" Molly declared, and her facedown card rose. "This is Sakuretsu Armor. When it's activated-"

"Yeah, yeah, an attacking monster of mine is destroyed." I watched Grizzly guard look surprised before exploding and going to the grave.

"Something... is wrong..." I heard some voice painfully speak to me. "Her dragon... she didn't save her dragon." Looking over my shoulder, there stood the spirit of the Grizzly Guard. But when he pointed it out, it was so obvious! How did I miss it? She could have wiped out the Stalker and kept her ever-strengthening dragon on the field. Why didn't she? I'd probably find out next turn, but I thought I had a card to help me prepare for it in my hand.

"It's my second main phase this turn, and I'll use it to lay another landmine on the field just to scare you! Now it's my end phase-" the board acknowledged that. "And the effect of Black Wolf Stalker activates. By his effect I can complete the pack by special summoning White Wolf Hunter from my deck." The card stuck out from my deck thanks to the disk technology, and as I played it a great white wolfman wielding a bow and quiver with 1,000 defense points took the field. I thought a big move was coming and thought he would be best off in defense mode. "This comes with a cost, though: I send the top card of my deck to the grave if Stalker's effect activates in the same turn that he battles." So I did that and lost Wild Tribe Leopardess Weaver. Perfect, I thought, since I was hoping that card would be a monster. "Also, I have to pay 300 life points because I used Grizzly Guard's effect and battled during your last turn."

"Your strategy comes with a high risk for a high return," Molly noted.

"Yours, too," I retorted. "Your move." As my turn came to an end, Stalker's attack points dropped to 2,600.

"I draw!" This was actually going quite well for me. I thought I was prepared for a counterattack, but there was also the possibility I misread the situation, in which case I was ready to make a power play. I just needed one surviving monster... "I'll summon Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner in attack mode." She appeared with her 1,000 attack points. "And with her ability, I can discard Rinyan, Lightsworn Rogue to the grave to resurrect Jain, Lightsworn Paladin!" I growled. "Jain, wipe out the Hunter!" The two monsters briefly scuffled, but Jain overpowered my Wolf. At least my life points were safe. "And I'll leave you with a facedown. During my end phase I have to send five cards from my deck straight to the graveyard, three because of Lumina and two for Jain."

"Wanna destroy your own deck? Fine by me." I drew, leaving me with three cards in my hand while thinking, maybe I miscalculated. Perhaps she had simply blundered during my last turn. I didn't bother tracking the cards in her graveyard; I didn't think they'd matter. Boy, was I wrong. "Trapper, you've been great, but you served your purpose. I'll send him to the grave to tribute summon Wild Tribe Lion Warrior!" Lion warrior was a proud and noble lion with a painted face and a tomahawk in hand. He needed a tribute because he's level six, but his 2,500 attack points made it well worth it. Sure, that was weaker than Stalker had been, but not after his ability. "Cry havoc, and let slip the lions of war! Lion Warrior will defend his tribe all his proud heart, and he's not happy that you defeated so many of his friends." I wasn't sure if anyone else could see it, but I saw his teeth bared as he growled. Scary, no joke. "His attack points are boosted by 100 for each Wild Tribe monster in the graveyard there with a different name. So, headcount: we've got Grizzly Guard, White Wolf Hunter, and Grey Wolf Trapper. Don't forget the Leopardess I milled earlier, either, and Black Wolf Stalker. I've got a total of five for 3,000. How's that sound?"

Molly had no need to respond. Her face said it all. "Alrighty, Simba: teach Lumina a little lesson about the circle of life!" Almost before I could give the order, Lion Warrior threw his axe and struck Lumina head on. Lumina fell, and 2,000 points of life point damage were dealt. "You're next, Stalker! Wipe the floor with Jain." And yet she didn't fall. "Hey, what is this?"

"A Barrier blocked your attack!" Molly informed me. "Lightsworn Barrier!" her facedown card revealed itself. "I can negate any attack against a Lightsworn monster by sending the top two cards of my deck to my graveyard!" And then she did just that.

Lion and I both growled. "...fine then. I expected more than defense from you, though. And now you're running out of cards, Molly. I'll proceed to my end phase, and since Stalker didn't battle this turn, his end phase effects don't apply, but I'll have to discard one spell from my hand to keep Lion on the field." I sent Harmony, a card that wouldn't have helped me right then anyway. "Now you better have a big move planned," I taunted, "Because very soon you'll be out of a deck!"

Molly drew in the most nonchalant way I had ever seen. "You've played right into my hands. Do you think your savages scare me?" Oh, hell no, bitch! Maybe I was just figuring out these cards, but look at my field position! The two strongest monsters on the field were mine with 3,000 and 1,900 points respectively. Her 1,800-point Jain couldn't stand up to them. Now that our life points were nearly tied at 1,500-1,700, her only defense was a trap that destroyed her own deck while I had my own face-down insurance policy. Given how well these special cards were working with me, I was not happy for her to put them down like that - especially when I knew they were alive. She continued, "This duel needs a more sweet and innocent monster. I'm thinking... Minerva, Lightsworn Maiden."

A little girl. She summoned a little girl. With a pet owl on her arm. "Ummm... I'm so scared?" She definitely wasn't for combat. She only had 800 attack points.

"Minerva is only the means to an end. You see, I wanted all those cards in my grave, Yusef. Specifically? The monsters. As many with different names as possible. And after that last attack, I got just enough to break you." She then dug through her deck and showed me a dragon. "This is Judgement Dragon, the instrument of your defeat. When Minerva is summoned, I may add to my hand a Light attribute dragon whose level is less than or equal to the number of different Lightsworn monsters in my grave." She then extracted eight different monsters from her graveyard. "I have eight. Judgement Dragon is level eight. Follow so far?"

"Get on with it, Molly." I may have made my move too early, I began to realize. And I also realized then why she didn't save Gragonith when she could have.

She shrugged. "Well, I can special summon Judgement Dragon - no sacrifice required - as long as there are four or more different Lightsworn in my graveyard. Check." The great feathered dragon was indeed a mighty beast. I was glad it wasn't a spirit, else it would have really scared the shit out of me. It almost did anyway; it was packing 3,000 attack points. The shock of such a monster just appearing was unnerving. "Time for the endgame: I activate Judgement Dragon's effect: by paying 1,000 life points-" Her score dropped to 500. This move was a gambit. "Judgement Dragon destroys all cards on the field except itself."

"You've gotta be kidding me!" I cried incredulously.

"Does this look like kidding? Judgement Dragon, wipe the field clean!" Shit, shit, shit! So much for my excellent field position! Lumina, Jain, the Barrier, Black Wolf Stalker, and Lion Warrior were just... Wiped out. Like nothing. So I was staring down a 3,000 point monstrosity with an open field. I only had one saving grace.

"You destroyed my trap card, Shaman's Last Rites! When Shaman's Last Rites is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the grave, all cards in the graveyard with 'Wild Tribe' in their names must be removed from play. At that point, I gain a thousand life points for each one I choose to remove as long as it doesn't go above 4,000." I sighed out of relief then. Stalker and Trapper would be removed from play, leaving my life points at 3,700. "I hope you have another monster in your hand, because I'll survive this turn if you don't."

Molly's face was eerily straight. But I think she had no playable monster, because she proceeded from there to her battle phase. "Judgement Dragon, strike at him directly!" As the beast launched its beam of light at me, the spirits of the two banished wolves ran in front of me and threw themselves before the blast.

"No!" I cried as they were obliterated with most of my life points. It was a close match again, 600-700. But what did I care? I just saw two of my guardian spirits fall to save me. I was starting to feel things for them, it seemed... There was something between us, I began to acknowledge.

"Your reluctance won't spare you from damage, Yusef. I'm sending the top four cards of my deck to the graveyard per Judgement Dragon's effect. Which do you think will run out first, Yusef? Your defenses or my deck?" I wasn't comfortable with the persona Molly was putting out there anymore. She was acting like a ruthless killer, not the flirtatious mystery girl I had first met. Psychological warfare, maybe? I sure hoped so.

I knew for fact I didn't have a monster with a flat 3,000 points, and my draw didn't give me a card that could rid the field of the dragon. I frowned and mumbled, "I set a monster facedown... and hope it'll buy me another turn, I suppose."

"We'll see." Molly drew, and unfortunately for me it was the monster Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid with 1,200 attack points. That would be enough to wipe me out. Maybe I'd have to try some psychological warfare on my own.

"Interesting position we're in!" I remarked, "Who knows what my facedown monster may be? If you attack it with Aurkus, it may have enough defense points to survive the hit. Judgement Dragon could then probably put it away, but I'll survive another turn. On the other hand, you could attack with Judgement Dragon first and mop up my points with Aurkus, but the monster may have an effect that completely turns the duel around if the dragon attacks it." The truth was I personally needed one certain monster to attack first in order to survive. Otherwise it was over for me. Could I get her to make the move I want? It all came down to one 50/50 choice.

"Judgement Dragon. Win me this duel." The facedown monster was obliterated, and it had no flip effect that could save me. My field was open to Aurkus, and it looked like the fat lady was about to sing. Unless you were me, who knew what was about to happen.

"We're done here, Molly. You destroyed Wild Tribe Lamb Sacrifice. And when she's destroyed in battle, the controller of the monster who declared the attack takes 100 points of damage times the level of the monster that destroyed her. Remind me, Judgement Dragon's level was...?" I asked smugly.

"8." What I think happened was she planned to attack with the dragon first anyway but wasn't sure, except she took my goading as an attempt to make her change course, thinking I didn't want Judgement dragon to attack. Because of that she was resolute in making the move she thought I didn't want - which I did. Now she would take 800 points of lifepoint damage when she only had 600 to spare.

"My, oh, my, did you all see that?" The MC managed to convey over the PA despite the crowd's roar. Apparently, more stuck around to watch the freshman duel than I anticipated. "Even the freshmen are pulling out all the stops to deliver us dueling at a very high level! I think it's clear which two duelists rank at the top of the first year, but in the end the title of hotshot freshman goes to Yusef Musk!"

I took the victory with poise and dignity... is a sentence that you'll never hear me say in my life. No, I went wild, flashing the devil horn hand gesture with both hands at the crowd and sticking my tongue like a madman. The MC approached me and asked while speaking into her mic, "Yusef, anything you wanna say before random matchups begin?" I assumed that was when all students present who hadn't dueled yet were selected at random to do so.

Originally I wasn't going to say anything, but all the monsters I had used in the duel had apparently formed behind me and looked to me expectantly. Did they want me to address them? I was hesitant, but I guessed they finally earned it. How to go about it while not looking insane, though? I took the microphone offered to me and, after a moment of thought, acknowledged, "I couldn't have done it alone." Nobody else knew I was looking right at my monsters, but I did. Satisfied, they returned to wherever they went when they weren't following me around. That was all I had to say, so I gave the mic back and yelled, "Molly!" after her just as she became invisible under the shadows of the exit tunnel. I guessed she didn't want to talk.

"Alright, duelists and duelettes, watch the scoreboard carefully! If you see your picture up there, you better get on down here and duel. Unless, of course, you don't think you can follow the freshmen's act!" I guessed I might as well make nice with the duel spirits then. Maybe I wasn't stuck with them, but if dueling together felt like that every time, then I'd want to do it again. I was sure I felt my deck trying to give me what I needed when I needed it, but I couldn't have explained to you why I thought so.

"Hmm. Well, you guys might not be Blowback Dragon, but you'll more than suffice in my book. Let's see if I can live up to being the special duelist you all seem to think I am."


	3. Chapter 3

**I promised smut in this story, and I fucking** ** _delivered!_** **Expect a whole lot more, too. But don't expect it in every chapter; I do have a story to tell. Still, I'll try and keep it in more than just often enough to keep you interested. Enjoy, and REVIEW! You don't even have to be logged in to review! How am I supposed to know you enjoy this if you don't review? I actually worked harder to finish this chapter because of its higher than normal view/review ratio.**

* * *

My life dropped to zero. "That is _not_ fair!" I cried out indignantly, "I couldn't draw monster cards for some reason! Not cool!" It seemed that the Wild Tribe wasn't interested in helping me defeat Henry the same night I defeated Molly in front of the whole school (and I won't lie, winning in public felt pretty damn good). I guess it was OK, though. This was just a friendly duel over which to get to know each other in our own room, and he actually seemed like a pretty cool guy. I thought I'd get along well with him.

Henry shrugged. "Your own fault, man. You're supposed to arrange your deck so every card is the card you need."

"Yeah, right." I pushed him, but there was no malice behind it. "There's no perfect deck, Henry."

"Nah, guess not." He hoisted his bag over his shoulder then and turned toward the door.

"Where are you goin'? It's..." I leaned back to look at the clock. "10:00. You sure you wanna go out when classes start early tomorrow?"

"Oh, I'm not goin' far!" Henry reassured, "Just, Uh... my girlfriend's room."

"You're kidding," I snickered, "After that round earlier? You two sure made up fast."

"Eh, it's a regular thing for us!" Henry declared with more pride than I thought he deserved. "Looks bad at first, but boy, there's nothing like good old make-up sex! Besides, your... Dying Fetus poster creeps me out anyway."

"Hmph." I crossed my arms and taunted, "Just don't get caught, then. I'd hate for my room mate to be replaced by some weirdo," in a tone of voice that made it clear I was trying to call him a weirdo. He was just amused, waving lazily and shutting the door behind him. "I should latch the chain and lock him out. Be a fitting irony, it would." I shrugged then. "Might as well get ready for bed myself."

I shower at night because it takes time out of my morning if I don't. And I'd rather use that time either for sleep or just not rushing to get out and go. Now, maybe it's narcissistic, but I could (and did) stare at my body in the full-body mirror for a minute or two. I played basketball through middle and half of high school even though I was only 5'10. Maybe I wasn't the star player, but my body was healthily toned and clearly capable. "Hey," I called over my shoulder even though I saw nobody there, "none of you better get any ideas. I said we could try being friends, but not _those_ kinda of friends!" Somehow I got the feeling those guys were always watching me anyway, though, even when I couldn't see them. It was a bit unnerving (and would be even if I hadn't been showering).

At least I had my own room that night. It meant nobody could stop me from falling asleep to music. Maybe some people prefer to fall asleep to Adele, but I elected instead to drift off with the sweet, soulful tones of Goat Whore.

* * *

"Yo!" I was standing outside my duel math class waiting for the professor to show up. While waiting, I was yelled at by a little Asian guy (and by little I mean like 5'5''). He was a Slifer, too, and as much as I didn't want to be elitist, I also didn't want to be alienated by my elitist peers. I made side-eye contact briefly, but I didn't actually acknowledge the guy until he growled, "FUCKING SLAYERRRRRR!" At first I was confused, but looking down at myself I found I was wearing my Slayer shirt. Hell, I could hardly remember five minutes after getting dressed what I had put on.

So I had to ask, "You a metalhead?"

And I got an enthusiastic, "Yeah, you know it!"

I didn't buy it. This guy was just some poser trying to get in with the Obelisk crowd. "What's your favorite Testament album?"

"Formation of Damnation." I had to give it up, then. The Slifer was a true brother.

"Nice!" I stuck out my hand and slapped his before our fingers gripped in the middle.

"I saw you in the commencement duels. You kicked ass!"

"Well... like I said. Couldn't have done it alone." I don't know what it is, but I got a bit of a thrill from alluding to the spirits without coming out with it. I guess I liked having that kind of power of hidden information over people. "You a freshman?"

"Nah, second year. Just didn't get to take this course yet." I'll confess to being a _slight_ racist, so I was expecting his name to be Jung Chu or Takemoto Kirita or something like that. "Jack."

"Yusef."

"What is that, Russian?"

"It's Ukrainian." I guess I wasn't really one to judge foreigners and their names now, was I? Well, that wouldn't stop me.

"Alright, class, everyone find your seats." I almost didn't notice the 5'0'' lady unlocking the classroom door. I only did when people began pouring in. "Obelisks up front, please, yellows in the middle section, and Slifer in the rear." Aww, man, I hated sitting at the front. But I obeyed this time. Maybe I'd try and sneak back there another time.

"See you later?" Jack asked me as he climbed the stairs to the back of the lecture hall.

"We'll see!" I called back at him. Besides not wanting to look chummy with a red in front of the blues, I wasn't even sure I wanted to be friends with this guy just because I'm like that.

Black Wolf Stalker kept trying to take a seat in my section, but each one was filled by a student before he could get to it. Sure, he's an intangible spirit so that shouldn't stop him, but he seemed to really want one to himself. I thought it was hilarious. "Dude," I called, "If you have to be here, just stand up. Now that I think about it, why are you here?"

"As you'll see on the projector screen, my name is Professor Amy Callahan. If you thought this would be an easy course-" I couldn't bear to listen to her drone on in that classic old history teacher voice, cracks and all. Lucky for me, I didn't have to. I started hallucinating again.

 **My lecture hall was replaced by the Wild Tribe's Village, only this time I actually recognized it**. I even recognized some of the spirits there now, like the wolf pack. More specifically I was around some kind of set of campfires, where wooden trays of meat were being passed around. Some stood, some sat cross-legged, most were engaged in conversation, and few seemed to notice I had crashed their little party. I felt especially out of place in my school uniform and Slayer shirt where they were dressed with much less, like the old Native American garb (but the more modest ones, whatever tribes those were. I don't know their names).

For a split second I thought I was invisible to them like they were to humans until from a blindspot beside me I was offered a tray. It startled and made me jump, but at least it was a friendly face. "Stalker!" I shook my head then. "Sorry. Black Wolf Stalker."

"That is not my real name, you know." Hearing his voice so clearly was weird. I heard a spirit speak once during the freshman commencement duel, but it was all floaty and ghostly and stuff. This time it was like Stalker was right in front of me. I mean, he was right in front of me, but still.

"Are you going to tell me your real name, then?"

"We will see." He jabbed the tray into my stomach then, grinning the whole time. "Come on, take some! I saw you were not having a much fun where you were, so I thought I would invite you here." I think I picked up a chicken leg. It tasted like chicken, but it wasn't prepared a way any human would do it. I liked it, though.

"First Molly, now you? I'm Yusef Musk, and I don't have a problem telling people that. Why does everyone else try to be all cool and mysterious about their names?"

Stalker shrugged. "I thought it would be funny. Maybe I was wrong." He reached for the dusk sky and snapped his fingers then. "Hey, you guys! Over here!" He called while looking over his shoulder. It turned out he was calling to his two packmates. No, wait, apparently there were four besides the black one, including a red wolf and golden wolf. I didn't remember them, but I guess I didn't study the cards all the hard yet. I don't think those two were in my deck. "That is Córona, Dunner, Nanamé, and Vishnik." Those were the white, gray, red, and golden wolves respectively. "And I am Lentö."

I tried my best at repeating the names back. "Corona, Dunner, Nananeme... there's no way I'll remember that!"

Stalker scoffed. "See why I did not tell you my name?" He laughed heartily then. "Your names are difficult to us, you know!"

"Point taken." I glanced around then. "What's with the festivities, then? Not just normal dinner, is it?"

"Good eye!" White Wolf complimented. Was his name Córona? I could hardly remember at the time, and I don't expect you to either. "But we do always feast for the binding ceremony. This is only the third one ever!" White Wolf Hunter tossed a canteen at me, then, and I caught it deftly with my free hand. "Humans like cold water, right? We cannot get it that cold this time of year, but this was left in the shade all day."

I took a skeptical look. "All day?" And then I took some sips from it. "What, were you expecting me all day?"

"Well we are not binding ourselves to that rock over there."

I didn't have to ask who they were binding themselves, too. The whole feast must have been for me. And apparently some ceremony, too? "...makes sense," is all I could think to say. "What exactly is the purpose of this?"

"Relax, it is no big deal!" The black wolf threw an arm over my shoulder and started pulling me by it. "Walk with us, and I will explain. If you have not noticed, we are spirits."

"With you so far."

"And that means we do not have bodies to create the energy we need to sustain ourselves. So we must take it from another source. Specifically you. Sorry to say we have done so already, but we have almost entirely faded away." Was that true? I couldn't tell by looking at them. Everyone looked solid as a rock.

"I haven't noticed any energy stealing. Still, should I feel violated?" I then admitted, "I feel a little violated."

"Think of it like a drowning person holding onto you for floatation," Stalker rationalized. I guess I couldn't argue with that. "But you didn't notice, did you? That's how small the amount is. Having no physical bodies also means we need less energy to sustain ourselves, as our souls are the only things that need it. That is how we survived thousands of years without a human's help. But now we need it again."

I looked a bit dejected because, well, I was. "The vice chancellor made it sound like you chose me for some special quality. But you're making it sound like I was the most convenient option."

Stalker shook his head vigorously. "For starters, we must have someone who can see our spirits. Without someone we can reach out to we can't take their energy. But we also need someone of good heart and mind, for we refuse to serve evil."

I had to scoff at that. "'Serve?' It sounds like the only one being served is you."

I think the whole pack took offense to that. "Did we not already lend you our power?" Yet another thing I couldn't argue with. "But we can be much more than pieces in your games. We're your familiars, your protectors! Your friends! Everyone loves friends, right?"

"No, but I do," I retorted. "I'm skeptical. You make it sound like this deal has no costs to either of us. Only upsides to both. It sounds too good to be true, which means it probably is."

"Nonsense!" the black wolf dismissed, "Those men Yuki and Andersen are doing well, aren't they? Even your dueling legend Yugi Moto had encounters with the spirits!" I had almost forgotten those rumors surrounded him, too. I guess they knew whatever I did, though. "Not that I'm saying we can make you a legendary duelist automatically... though we can certainly try."

"And in exchange you keep existing."

"But the ritual can only be carried out between consenting parties." That wasn't a wolf. I didn't recognize that voice. Whipping my head around there was a polar bear - and let me tell you he wasn't dressed nearly as fully as the rest of his clan. A collection of knives hung from a belt, which held up a thin cloth that circled him and flowed down only to the thighs from waistline. I guess if I had a body like his I'd show off, too, because he was built like a pro-wrestler, only without the crazy bulges. I recognized him, too, as the bear I met during my first trip to that place. "Even if we tied you down forced you to participate, it would be an abomination. The land would never recognize our union." I decided I would pretend to agree. "Already it is angry that we have stolen from you, but I believe we have repaid that debt for now. Still, if you would say no, there would be no cost to you - besides the power you've borrowed, of course." I think he meant the Wild Tribe cards. "I do not wish to rush you, but I require your decision now." He held up a hand/paw solemnly then and looked at it. "Our time is short. And we have stopped sapping from you, which we only did to sustain us long enough for this moment. Now you must decide both our fates."

Damn, that was a lot to take in. But at least it was more interesting than Duel Math. There was one thing I needed to know first: "Can I back out at any time afterwards? If for some reason I find out you aren't as pure as you seem, I want to be able to cut off and get rid of you. Like any human friendship."

"Of course," the bear reassured, "the process is reversible at any time." I didn't like this. I didn't trust it. The better this seemed, the more it felt like a setup. For all I knew I was dealing with manipulative evil spirits. Surely they weren't all good, right? So how could I know? How could I trust a single word they said?

I guess the answer to that last question was that I had no choice. Better risk aiding the guilty than punishing the innocent. "Let's do it, then... assuming we can get it done before my class ends."

* * *

We waited for the sun to set a little bit more so most of the light came from fires instead. I half-believe that was just to set the mood, honestly. I suppose the mood was important, though; I was uncomfortable enough as it was until I found out what the ritual actually entailed. Apparently we had to unite in the literal sense... if you get my meaning. Thank God I didn't have to do it with _all_ of them, though! Apparently the polar bear was enough, acting as a 'representative' for them all. Turns out he was the head honcho around. "But you're welcome to any of them," he explained, "Like we said... there is _nothing_ we wouldn't do for you after this."

If you're a half-normal person in his or her right mind you're probably thinking, 'Oh, shit, what? A 17-year-old boy is supposed to have sex with a male half-bear millenia-old spirit?' Well, unfortunately, I'm a half-normal person in my right mind, so that also occurred to me. Thing is, I'll admit, I was a little... different. And by different I mean gay. And I also mean zoophilic. OK, some would call me a little touched in the head. But what else do you expect from someone who loves the music I do, eh? At least I wasn't a slut, bending over as soon as I was propositioned. I needed a lot of convincing.

The polar bear got me out of my shirt OK, but then he started acting all fresh and seductive in a way nobody had ever been with me before... certainly not someone with a form like his. But he stood close enough for his fur to tickle my bare belly and slightly bulging pectoral muscles to make eye contact with me. Like all the Wild Tribe, he was a tank, and unlike me he was able to get down to his belt (which covered absolutely nothing) without nerves like I had. By the look on his face I think he liked the idea of having to work for me, and by the way he stood that close without even touching me it was clear he was patient.

It didn't help my nerves that we were surrounded by spectators - or that the wolf pack kept Wolf-whistling immaturely. They really kind of ruined the sanctity of the ritual, assuming it had any at all, and made me more nervous. Each time I was nearly ready to strip further, they called out. Pricks. But in a way they helped things progress, because while I was distracted by them the polar bear gently tugged my pants and boxers down simultaneously. I guess he wasn't quite that patient after all.

At least one of the hardest parts for me was over then. All I had to do was step out, so I did. And as I did the bear deliberately removed his knife belt and lay it on the ground, into which I read a symbolic meaning of there being no danger or ill intent. "No need to fear, young one," he huskily soothed, his thick fuzzy arms snaking around me. "I know what is in your mind, so I know that in that you desire me. I assure you, I desire you, too. But above that I desire to please you, my new friend." One of the arms secured my lower back, and the other had me by the upper, on the shoulder blades. "So leave your inhibitions behind for a moment. This is a special occasion."

That's when his thick ursine lips touched mine, though I had to look almost straight up at him looking straight down to make the angle work. That was my only kiss ever, but the way he was so gentle and seemed so sincere in his care for me makes me think it would be my best kiss ever even with past ones. I had to return it.

The bear was very aggressive then, pushing back on me hard and even dipping me back. I thought I couldn't go further, but he kept looming over me further and making me lean back further until eventually physics just made me fall backwards. However, the bear didn't let me fall; he caught me and walked forward a couple of steps to lay me on a tree stump that had to be about three feet in diameter. Thankfully it was covered by a blanket deliberately, because that would have been serious splinters otherwise.

Through all that the bear never took his mouth off mine. Simultaneously, I got pretty aggressively into the kiss, too, by then; who would judge me, I thought? No one could see me! That wasn't entirely true, though; a circle of the wild tribe had formed to watch us. I hardly though about them, though, because I was occupied by the hulk of a monster taking his mouth off of mine and backing up a little.

The bear murred under his breath and gently wrapped his chops around my erection, which forced me to squirm and moan out loud. In no time he began to bob up and down my length pretty quickly, massaging it with his suckling lips in his warm, wet mouth. Bastard even made eye contact with me the whole time. But he only gave me this treatment for twenty seconds or so before pulling off. The tease just made me feel even needier, and I think it showed on my face.

"We've gotten this far, and I don't even know your name!" I remarked offhand to try and relax myself a bit.

As a black bear passed the white bear a bowl of some sort, the latter replied, "Perhaps it would be easiest for you to know me as Chieftain. That is what I am, after all." He dipped the digits of his paws into the bowl then. They were covered in some thick brown liquid. "This herbal mix acts as a fast-acting but fast-fading muscle relaxer. It should ease your first breeding." Boy, the use of that last word really turned me on.

With one paw the humanoid bear lifted a leg. Two digits of the other one plunged right into my asshole like a sword between ribs. The roughness made me shout out and squirm, but the bear held me fast and kept rubbing that substance into me. As it turned out, though, fast-acting meant fast-acting. Not even ten seconds after being stabbed the pain went away. In fact I didn't even feel his fingers so much at all anymore. I thought initially that was because I was numbed, but I wasn't; I was just forcibly relaxed, as I could still feel him a little. In fact I tried to clamp down my hole tight and found I couldn't.

Wild Tribe Polar Bear Chieftain quickly took his paw back, wrapped my legs around his waist, knelt down a little, and glided the entirety of his ursine prick into me until I felt his fuzzy balls nestled against me. Even with my hole forced open, that thing felt huge! If it was less than ten inches long, then I'm the Dark Magician. "Oh, yes..." the ursine grumbled while looking me straight in the eye. He then loomed over me again, laying his elbows on my shoulders and paws behind my head. "I hear every thought running through you. You're amazed by my size, and you can't wait to be well and truly bred by a big, strong bear."

The dirty talk just turned me on more and more, which everyone could probably see because it made me breathe harder. That herbal mix was starting to wear off, I noticed, because I felt my muscles involuntarily begin contracting around the bear meat again. When that happened the pole felt even bigger because my body was holding it tighter, which made me revise my estimate to no less than eleven inches. Luckily, since the entrance was already open I didn't have to go through the pain of forcing it open; all I felt was a warm fullness inside me radiating from him.

"You love to dominate your little card game," Chief went on, "But I know you want to submit now. You want all these physically superior beasts to have their way with you." The polar bear started stroking my cock then slowly but with a very firm grip, making it throb in his paw. "If you cum for me... I'll let you have first pick on whose essence you may drink."

"Ah, unh..." I moaned out. That was about all the speech I was capable of. And let me tell you, I didn't need to be bribed to cum then; I was already going to without prompting. In fact I wouldn't put it past Chieftain to have known that. In either case, I tilted my head back and made a big mess on myself even while Chieftain didn't stop stimulating me. That was my biggest climax ever then, too. I even got a whole lot on my face, which I'd never done before (but to be fair, Chieftain might have been aiming for that).

I was left breathing hard then, at which point the furry polar bear let go of my dick and let it flop down like a popped balloon. It didn't stay that way for long, though; once the polar bear stood back up straight (minus a necessary knee bend to reach me) he withdrew about six inches from me (which for most humans would be the whole thing) and plowed it all right back in, which made mine spring back to life instantly. "Oh, gods..." he cooed while sticking his broad tongue out a bit, "I haven't had a human to mate with in thousands of years!"

I think that was when the chief lost his patience; he didn't start slow or softly but went straight to cradling my thighs and ploughing me. That instant transition to a rapid thrusting pace made me moan at a pitch I don't think I had made since before puberty. As the bear's fuzzy balls started bouncing off my bottom I tilted my head back without even thinking about it. I had my eyes closed, too, which is how another bear, specifically Grizzly Guard, grabbed my head and turned it without my noticing. My mouth was already open, but my eyes shot open as well as he blocked my moans with a thick, oozing cock.

Most delicious thing I ever tasted.

Grizzly didn't stop there, though. He held me fast and pushed all his ten inches down my throat gently. "Better learn how now!" Grizzly reasoned while my nose was buried in his crotch fur, "Something tells me you'll be begging to be in this position again soon." Well in that moment I thought he was right, and all that happened while the polar bear was sneering down at me and churning my ass vigorously.

As soon as I had become the master of my gag reflex, the brown bear pinched my cheeks between jaws in order to force them to stay open while he took his member back out until the tip of his head was right on the tip of my tongue. I think he forced my mouth open wider because he could watch the action personally as he then unloaded straight into my mouth. I knew as soon as I tasted it that I would become an addict; already I had my eyes clamped shut and moaned out loud through swallows, which weren't nearly fast enough. A good load of bear cum dribbled down my cheek, but at least I got enough to keep breathing and, more importantly, enjoy.

While Grizzly kept me busy, a muzzle swallowed my erection once again, only I couldn't see whose it was. I didn't expect the polar bear to be that flexible, so there had to be a third participant. Before I could identify it, it had already sunk so low that it was kissing my balls simultaneously and sucked harder than a shark vacuum cleaner (or so I imagine) while it's tongue struck at me from every angle. The treatment would have made me squirm, but both it and the polar bear held my body still enough that it couldn't move.

By the time Grizzly's cum load tapered off I felt like I had drank a gallon of it. It was one of those inner conflicts where you love the taste so much you want more but couldn't keep any more in your belly. But he finished and let go of me, so I turned my head to find another bear was giving me oral sex, specifically Black Bear Healer. In fact, both the white and black bears were making direct eye contact with me. God, Chief was hitting all the rights spots inside me hard with his giant cock at the same time, and it made me cry out each time.

"This can be every day!" The polar bear enticed me, "All day, every day. Whenever you want, our whole tribe is at your disposal." I could hear from his speech that he was starting to breathe hard. "Now receive my seed!" I wasn't in much of a position to refuse, but I didn't have any desire to either. Right then the seven-foot bear not only shoved all of his meat in my ass but kept shoving after that. Finally his face broke from a smirk into a grimace that almost looked pained, but I knew better. That was when the floodgates opened, and I do mean floodgates: I couldn't tell you just how much got poured inside me, but I can tell you it felt like approximately three metric shitloads. It also felt warm, warmer than by body temperature, and I foresaw each squirt because the rod inside me pulsed before each one. I swear, Polar Bear Chieftain kept it up for two minutes straight!

Don't forget about Black Bear during that time, though. He only seemed to get more vigorous during that time, swirling his tongue around rapidly and holding the whole length in his muzzle without even needing to deepthroat ( _not_ because I'm small but because his muzzle was long!). Put that together with what was happening above and, well, I had no chance. Like Chieftain I couldn't tell you how hard I came either, but that's because every drop ended up flowing straight down Healer's throat. I even felt his tongue scraping my tip as it tried to lap up every squirt, and that only seemed to add even more shots, at least by a couple. My god, hearing him gulp and feeling his tongue scrape was so hot!

Eventually for us all, the shots turned to an oozing before the faucet eventually closed. Black Bear was the first one to realize this and pull his lips off of me, but he did it at an agonizingly slow pace and without breaking suction until the end, at which point he wiped his mouth and smirked. Polar Bear Chieftain had a similar look as he much more rapidly pulled his dick out of me, at which point I could feel a little bit of semen pour out before the hole closed back up around the rest. Wasting no time, Black bear got between my legs, held them up, and buried his head between my cheeks to lick at the site. "Whoa, what? We're still going?" I panted through that question but sat my head up just a bit from surprise.

"No, no," Chieftain clarified calmly, "He is simply cleaning you... and likely taking one last taste of that fluid he so enjoys." Gotta admit, that was still hot. In fact, it made me kind of _want_ to go again.

"Well... could we?" I asked slightly bashfully. Why I was bashful, I couldn't explain; I had already been plowed on both ends by these three bears in front of, well, the entire tribe. They'd all seen the real me underneath that already. Maybe I just cared too much about my dignity, or at least my apparent dignity.

"Any time you want," Chieftain promised, "With any of us that you want for as long as you want. Any act you want. In short, we are at your complete command now. And thanks to you, we will continue on being." The polar bear extended a paw to me then, and I supposed I should take it, so I did. The ursine pulled me into sitting up then. "But if I may offer my counsel? Not now. You have somewhere important to be, after all."

I narrowed my eyes, confused. "Somewhere important? Wh-" Then I got it. "Oh, my god! Class!"

"It's just ending," Chieftain calmed, "It seemed you were not listening anyway, so I see no harm in having missed it. Still, best you not remain there."

 **My head jolted up from having been on my desk with a start just as the dismissal bell rang.** God, I hoped I was silent while I was 'asleep.' I think I was. At least, nobody said anything to me after. If I wasn't silent... boy, I'd have hated to explain why I said what I said or made the noises I made. But even though I had come to reality, I didn't lose all of my sensory memories of the other place. I still felt the ghost of the bear cock no longer plugging my hole but still seeming to keep it gaping open. I still detected the aftertaste of, strangely, enjoyably bitter sperm on my tongue even though scraping it with my fingers didn't yield any traces for me to see.

 _That... was insane,_ is how I articulately summarized the trip. But besides being just dumbfounded and disoriented... I was happy. Yeah, shocking, right? When I walked into that classroom, I never expected to be walking out of it with an uncontrollable, goofy grin. ' _Any time you want,' huh?_ I repeated Polar Bear Chieftain's words. _New friends, new cards, and..._ I mentally cleared my throat then. ' _...any time I want.' Well, I guess they're all just too responsible to have me during class time. That time was probably just because like they said, time was short. But hey... that leaves plenty of time. After classes, maybe quickies between if I'm really needy... and of course every single night._ I had to chuckle to myself then. Nothing was funny; I just felt too good, almost high. _Duel school is going better than expected already._


End file.
